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Australia ‘to learn from England’ after Ashes ignominy

Patrick Kidd

August 19 2011, 2:07pm, The Times

Greg Chappell has lost his role as a selectorHamish Blair/Getty Images

After selecting 38 Test cricketers in the past four years – 22 of them debutants – and losing the Ashes twice as well as slipping to No 5 in the world rankings, Cricket Australia’s administrators have finally realised that they may want to look in the mirror for the reason for their failure.

After “the most comprehensive examination of Australian cricket ever taken”, to quote the board’s general manager of public affairs, Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, and Greg Chappell, the former captain, have been dropped from the panel of selectors. Tim Neilsen, the head coach, has also been told to reapply for his job.

An inquiry into Australia’s poor performance, led by Don Argus, a former banker and chairman of a mining company,…

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